A Blustery Day

"Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage, blow! You cataracts and hurricanoes" - King Lear, Act 3 Scene 2. Dreadful winds howling all night long - I dreamt of July 1952 and the UFOs over Washington D.C., wondering whether they would descend this very night over the Kremlin... 

Saturday morning, after last night's false flags (gas-pipe explosion in Donetsk), Putin is maintaining high levels of terror over Ukraine. I can imagine the dread of its citizens, facing uncertainty that involves air-raids, artillery shelling and fire-fights.

Time to get some fresh air, time for a long walk amid the gales. I open the front door to hear the sound of flapping plastic sheets - a greenhouse has been ripped apart across the road, over 170m away, but upwind and very loud. Out by the ponds, below, more broken birches and high water (summer 2020 revealed the muddy bottom of a dried-out pond, now it's close to breaking its banks).

My intention was to do a long walk in the direction of Raszyn, but the wind was too strong. Walking along ulica Kinetyczna, I could see the planes coming into land at Warsaw's Okęcie airport from over Ursynów (Runway 29 rather than the more usual Runway 33). At least five I saw aborted their approach, throttled up their engines and did a go-round rather than dice with strong gusts near ground level. Below: the LOT Polish Airlines Embraer ERJ-195 comes into land behind a taxiing Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

I decided to turn back at Jaworowa (below), and instead of walking on to Raszyn and catching the bus home from there, I would turn back and walk all the way home, powered by a strong tailwind.

This (below) is the road between Jaworowa and Dawidy; a demarcated cycle path makes it safer for pedestrians. Gusts of wind, however, could still feel dangerous in the face of oncoming traffic.

Onward to Dawidy, a village just outside of Warsaw, where one can find blocks of flats - quite unusual. Dawidy is different in character to Dawidy Bankowe.

In Dawidy, I can see the scale of the wind damage. A fire engine and a crew of electricians were dealing with the aftermath of fallen trees and power lines.

I climb to the top of a large man-made hill of soil just off ul. Sporna. Time for lunch - sandwiches, a banana and a well-deserved bottle of IPA. From the top of this hill I have some great views overlooking the airport. And for a while, the sun popped out from behind the clouds. Below: another taxiing Dreamliner, the S2 expressway in the foreground.

Another sight from the top of this hill (standing about six metres above the ground) - a family of deer, foraging in the sodden fields between Dawidy and the S2. The closest I've ever seen deer to Warsaw!

Just to put them into perspective, here they are again, the white tails visible in the foreground, with the S2, the Palace of Culture to the left and the office developments of Służew all in view, and a Dreamliner coming into land.

Looking the other way, I could see that wind damage was being mended. Below: a fire crew dealing with a electric power pole that had been blown over onto the roof of a house. Note the new viaduct over the S7 extension in the background.

Below: fixing a hole where the rain gets in, and an unusual approach to rooftop access. 

Below: back in Jeziorki, the railway behind me, the S7 ahead - and no, this is not a pond - it is a flooded field. The Action warehouse in Zamienie and the new viaduct on the horizon.

Below: speeding south to Radom, a Koleje Mazowieckie Newag Impuls between W-wa Dawidy and W-wa Jeziorki stations.

This time last year:
Would the Universe exist if you were not there?

This time six years ago:
Dreams and visions of past lives

This time seven years ago:
Monist or dualist: which are you?

This time eight years ago:
Grim prospects for Ukraine

This time nine years ago:
Wrocław's new airport terminal

This time ten years ago:
A study in symmetry: Kabaty Metro station

This time 11 years ago:
To the Devil with it all - a short story

This time 12 years ago:
Waiting for the meltdown

This time 14 years ago:
Flat tyre